'Seeing deer stuck in fences has been horrible'

A mother and daughter say it has been "heartbreaking" to see deer getting trapped in fencing belonging to Anglian Water.

Jessica Groucott, 24, from Obthorpe, near Bourne, in Lincolnshire, said they had set free three of the animals, while another had died, and had reported the incidents to the company.

"It's absolutely heartbreaking," she said. "It's distressing for me as well as the deer, it's a horrible situation."

The fences, lined with rope, were used to cordon off fields between rural villages Mansthorpe and Wilsthorpewhere. Since the BBC contacted Anglian Water, the firm said it had removed the fencing from multiple locations and would work to "prevent this type of incident occurring again".

Jessica and her mother, Nicole, 59, regularly walk their dogs around the fields and, speaking before the water firm removed the fencing, said there had been three separate cases of deer getting trapped within the past few weeks, all within a two-mile radius of each other.

Jessica said she had spent an hour setting one of the deer free, which eventually reached a point of "calmness" and allowed her to help it.

"I don't know if they give up or if they're so tired they just can't fight anymore," she said.

"It's extremely distressing."

On one of the occasions, she said two stags had become intertwined and one had died, describing it as a "harrowing situation".

The fences were put in place by the water company to cordon off sections of fields where the firm was working on its Strategic Pipeline installation.

Jessica said she did not feel the water company had taken her complaints seriously enough when her family reported the incidents.

Anglian Water said the type of post-and-rope fencing used was a "common industry standard".

The rope has since been removed at locations where deer were found trapped.

The company said: "We take reports of this nature very seriously and our teams have visited the locations today to investigate the issue.

"Colleagues working in that area have been asked not to install any further post-and-rope fencing due to the deer population around the area.

"We will also be reviewing deer populations along the route of our Strategic Pipeline installation as we move forward to do as much as is reasonably practicable to prevent this type of incident occurring again."

Listen to highlights fromLincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look Northor tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices